Marauder's Mistake
by Tellwyn Prince
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own these charectors, they are the property of JKR and I promise to put them back when I'm done! What happens when the Marauders decide to de-age Snape? I'd like to warn that there will be spanking in this story so dont like dont read.
1. Chapter 1

**Marauder's Mistake**

**Chapter 1: Potions Mishap**

The potions lab was silent except for the odd smattering of conversation between students. Fourteen year old Severus Snape as usual was very focused in class; however, his focus was on the bright red spill of hair a few desks ahead of him. Lily was carefully adding powdered scarab beetles to her potion, and he tried to tell himself that he was keeping an eye on her just to make sure she didn't get hurt if she made a mistake. The fact that Lily had never made a mistake had no bearing on his train of thought.

_Sigh… she's so beautiful._ He thought to himself. His potion was nearly complete, and he stirred it counter-clockwise lazily, daydreaming about the picnic he and Lily had planned that afternoon. He was imagining how the sun would light up her hair, making it seem like it was on fire. So it wasn't too surprising that he didn't notice Black passing his table quietly and swiftly slip something into his cauldron. Nor did he notice when it went from a thick dark blue to a frothy pale yellow.

"Did you slip it in?!" James hissed eagerly as Black returned to their table.

"Yeah yeah, it was easy. Old Snivelly's of in la-la land again." He snickered, taking his seat.

Both boys watched in anticipation from the back of the room. They had noticed that the wrinkle-erasing potion they were working on in class today was one ingredient away from being the de-aging potion a few pages into the book. Naturally both boys had had the same stroke of genius at once, that is of course to change Severus's potion to the de-aging one. The book said that once the stirring was completed the potion would form a cloud of mist that must be avoided unless the mixer wanted to be de-aged accidentally. However, since the potion they were supposed to be working on was not shown as having such a reaction both boys knew that Severus wouldn't be expecting it, and therefore would be caught by the mist.

"When will it go off Sirius?" James said impatiently.

"Any minute now, according to the book." Sirius muttered back, peeking at the pages beneath their directions for the day. Both boys hunched over their own cauldrons, peering at the back of their Slytherin classmate.

Severus sighed again; _wait a minute… what's that noise?_ He looked down at his potions work in horror, seeing the seething frothing canary yellow liquid within his cauldron. _What the hell!! It-it was fine before!_ Severus sputtered as he backed away from the table, bumping into the one behind him. He wasn't fast enough though, as the potion bubbled over the rim of the cauldron it formed a thick cloud that rose up and engulfed him.

"Augh!" he exclaimed as he was lost in the heavy yellow cloud.

Lily Evans snapped around when she heard Severus yelp in surprise and… fright? That couldn't be good; he was always so excellent at potions, doing his work in silent efficiency. Lily was stricken when she saw the massive cloud that had taken the place of her friend.

"Severus?!"

She yelled as she dashed forward, in strong contrast the rest of the class which was doing everything to get away from whatever was going on. She stopped in front of his table as the mist sank down and cleared. Here was the cauldron, the neatly organized bottles and tubes of ingredients, and the pestle and bowl for grinding the scarab beetles… but no Severus.

"Severus! Wh-where are you?" she called frantically, a thousand possibilities of what could have happened crossing her mind, none of them good.

"I here Lily." piped up a tiny voice from behind the table.

Lily and the rest of the class slowly peered around the table Severus Snape had previously been working at. Standing there in a now oversized robe was a four year old boy with shoulder length raven hair and dark eyes. He grinned up at Lily toothily. "Hi."

"Sev?" she squeaked.

"Yup. Tha's my name; an Lily's your name." he said patiently, as though she might not understand.

"Hey, check it out! Snivellus is a midget and a greasy git!" announced James as he came around the other side of the desk. Sirius joined him, grinning. Actually, both boys were quite nervous, the de-aging potion should have only taken four years off the Slytherin, not ten.

The little boy turned towards them with some difficulty, due to the robes pooled around him, and looked up at them. He didn't remember these big boys like he remembered his Lily, but he decided that he did not like them, and were they laughing at him?! His eyes began to water, a fact that was not helped when the rest of the class crowded in for a look.

"Oh come _on_ Snivellus, you aren't going to cry are you." Sirius smirked in a derisive tone.

"**Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The loud scream from the mini-Snape finally had professor Slughorn rushing to the back of his class. "What in bloody hell is going- MERLIN'S BEARD!"

His best student was now sitting on the floor bawling his little heart out while everyone stood in shock, even the two Marauders.

Lily Evans jumped forward and scooped him up at once, Severus latching onto her neck and burying his face into her shoulder.

"How could you! Well, congratulations James Potter and Sirius Black! You have succeeded in making a toddler cry!" she snarled at them, squeezing the little Black bundle in her arms. Both boys flinched at her tone; and the rest of the class, who had been laughing at Severus's misfortune, now was very quiet.

"Lily, am I a sniv'us?" a little voice whimpered in her ear.

"Of course not." She said vehemenantly.

"Miss Evans, is that… I mean, that's Severus Snape?" Slughorn asked, his face looking ashen. He'd never had a fourth year student's potion go this badly wrong.

"Yes professor, I think it is." She said as the little raven head lifted off her shoulder and looked at the professor curiously. Severus wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

"You're really big mister, are you Santa?"

Everyone went dead silent. No one would have dared to comment on the rotund professor's weight, and none of them thought they'd see the day that Severus would insult his head of house.

"Um… no, no I'm not. Severus, how old are you?" the professor asked, trying to keep a level voice as his face flushed. _This child had better be the age he looks or so help me…_

"I this many!" he squeaked happily, holding up four chubby fingers.

Lily let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding. "Well, that's a lot!" she smiled at her now tiny friend before addressing the potions master. "What could have happened professor?"

Slughorn looked at the bright yellow and frothy concoction in Snape's cauldron. "It can't be!" he exclaimed, recognizing it immediately. "This is the Second Childhood potion, it's very advanced!"

Lily shook her head and flipped through the potions book one handed, the other being occupied by Severus, until she found the correct page. Her eyes scanned the ingredients swiftly; they matched almost perfectly with the wrinkle-erasing potion they had been doing for the class. Perfectly, except for the daisy roots that had to be added, that was. Lily looked over the ingredients on Severus's desk while the little boy himself sat happily upon her hip, sucking his thumb.

There were no daisy roots to be seen.

James and Sirius had started to inch away after Evans had chewed them out, and were inching even faster now that they saw her scanning the Slytherin's desk. Slughorn might not suspect tampering, but Evans would, and what's more she'd know exactly who'd done the deed.

"JAMES POTTER! SIRIUS BLACK!"

Severus sat on his desktop, sucking his left thumb and watching his Lily chase the two mean boys around the class, attempting to slap them with a potions book.

He swung his legs and stared owlishly at the somewhat ridicules scene as the fat man tried to get Lily to calm down. Meanwhile a cluster of girls were cooing and petting at him, trying to get him to smile instead of looking bewildered.

He rewarded them with a lopsided grin; although it was more because his Lily had caught the boy she called James right across the seat of his pants with the schoolbook.

"OW! Evans what the hell?!"

"It's the least you deserve you terrible bully! What if the mixture had gone wrong and Sev had been hurt?!" she had them cornered now, both boys careful to keep their backs to the wall. "As it is he's a toddler! And the counter-potion will take at least a month to brew properly! It's the week before Christmas what will we do with him?"

"Send him to his mummy; I'm sure she'll love coddling her ickle baby again."

SMACK! The potions text caught James on his thigh. "You're such a toerag!!!"

Lily stormed back to Severus and scooped him up with a huff. "I'm going to see Dumbledore professor Slughorn." She said in a clipped voice, turning to glare at the two Marauders. "And I'm going to tell him _everything._" With that ominous statement, she swept out of the lab.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**Marauder's Mistake**

**Chapter 2: A ****"****Slight****"**** Problem**

Lily stormed through the halls with Severus in her arms, who was watching her face carefully and pouting. He didn't understand why his Lily was upset, but he knew he didn't like it.

"Lily?"

"Yes Severus." She said in a clipped tone. She was still seething over what James and Sirius had done.

"Are you mad at me?" he peeped, clearly afraid of what she was going to say.

Lily blinked and looked at him in surprise, he really was adorable at this age, his nose was still a bit large for his face but it wasn't bad looking or hooked yet. She also took in the little crease between his fuzzy black eyebrows.

"No Severus, how could I be mad at you sweetie?" she chuckled inwardly; the real Severus Snape would never consent to being called "sweetie".

But the little boy only shrugged his thin shoulders and sighed, still frowning down at the floor. Suddenly something struck Lily, how was it that Severus could remember her but not anyone else at the school? She stopped walking and looked closely at the toddler she now held, who finally decided to smile softly at her. "Severus, how do you know me?"

"I knows you from the park. I watch you sometimes." He said sweetly with a dreamy grin that almost melted her heart. Yet… he'd been watching her?

"Hey Lily, how come you gots so much bigger than me?" he asked, poking her chest innocently, surely meaning her height as well as her curvier attributes. Still, she could feel her face flush as he poked. _Oh Merlin, please don't let him remember any of this when he re-ages._

"Um well you see Sev, I err… ate all my vegetables and got bigger. Do _you_ eat all of your vegetables?" she asked him teasingly. His round little face turned pink and he shook his head so hard that his long hair flew around his head.

By this time they had arrived at the entrance to Dumbledore's office, but before Lily could begin guessing passwords the giant gargoyle swung out of the way and the stairs appeared. Severus goggled at this feat. "Wow Lily! You must be powerful to make stone monsters move like that!"

Lily chuckled, "Actually, I think Dumbledore is expecting us."

"Dumeldore?" he piped.

She tried to keep a straight face as she ascended the staircase. "Yes, he's the headmaster for the school."

"Wha's a headmaster?"

"Well, he's the one who runs the school Sev."

When they arrived she reached to knock on the door only to hear a "Come in please."

She walked into the amazing office with all of its shining whirling instruments and geegaws and bowls of sweets. Severus immediately began squirming. "Liiiiiilyyyyy! I wanna get dooooowwwwwn!" he whined in a very un-Snapelike tone.

"Okay okay! Don't make me drop you." She said sternly, putting him on his feet. She swiftly performed a shrinking spell on his robes so that they would fit him properly and then held him in place a moment, motherly instincts she didn't know she had coming to the forefront all of a sudden.

"Now Severus, you can look but you do _not_ touch anything at all, understood?" she told him firmly, making him look her in the eyes.

"Otay Lily." He said innocently, even as his dark eyes sparkled merrily. The moment she let go of his hand he was off and scurrying around the office, peering at everything. Lily rolled her eyes and looked at the headmaster who had been waiting patiently. _Oh, oops._

"Um, hello headmaster."

"Hello Miss Evans, am I correct in assuming that that is indeed Severus Snape?"

"Yes headmaster, Potter and Black messed with his potion-_for a prank!" _she shouted the last part and then blushed. "Sorry."

"No need Miss Evans, I understand and you have every right to be upset with the Marauders right now. This was a very dangerous joke."

Suddenly the office doors opened again and a tomato red and fuming professor Slughorn shoved James Potter and Sirius Black in ahead of him.

"Ah, boys, lovely of you to come and join us." Dumbledore said with his characteristic twinkle.

Suddenly Severus scampered to Lily and clung to her legs. "Mean boys Lily!" he said, tucking his face away and pointing at them.

"Why you little-!" James started before Dumbledore gave him a hard look.

"Now boys, I understand that you are the cause for these extremely unfortunate circumstances."

Sirius rolled his eyes sullenly. "Whatever, I don't see the big deal is anyway. It's almost Christmas so can't you just send Snivelly home until the cure is ready?" He began to regret his words as he felt both professors and Lily's eyes boring into him.

"Actually Mr. Black, Severus's parents are unable to take him for the holidays. That is why we are all here." Dumbledore paused, giving both boys a very serious look that told them to keep quiet. The fact that he had used Sirius's last name alone spoke of how disappointed he was in the boys.

"Mummy an Daddy don't want Sev'us?" the little boy pouted.

Lilly pet his raven hair gently, "No that's not it, I'm sure they're just… very busy sweetie."

"Evans for Merlin's sake why are you coddling him?!" James burst out. He was rewarded with a glare but, fortunately for him, before Lily could say anything Dumbledore spoke up.

"James, I assure you that Miss Evans is not behaving inappropriately. The Second Childhood potion does effectively de-age the mind as well as the body. Young Severus here will have none of his memories from after the age of four. Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable to treat him as though he were a toddler because, you see, he is one in every respect."

Now Dumbledore turned his attention to Lily, with the tiny black-robed figure at her knees. "Miss Evans, I am aware that this is a lot to ask of you; but would you be able to stay here this holiday to take care of your friend? Or possibly bring him to your home?"

At this suggestion Severus looked up at Lily with hope shining brightly in his dark eyes, Christmas holiday with his Lily?! It was almost too much to hope for!

"Err, actually headmaster… I can't. My parents and sister have a trip planned to the Caribbean, we can't take an extra person this short notice and, they simply won't let me stay behind." She said apologetically as she stroked the top of Severus's head, hearing him whimper. She felt just awful, her first friend in the magicing world and she couldn't even babysit him now that he'd been de-aged and really needed her. She felt the arms tighten around her knees as Severus fought the urge to cry.

Dumbledore, however, seemed to have been expecting this and merely nodded. "That is all right Miss Evans, I understand. Professor Slughorn, do you know how long the antidote will take to brew?"

"About a month Dumbledore, and only if I'm lucky mind. I'm no Snape."

James and Sirius began to shift from foot to foot uncomfortably. They did not like that it was taking so long to come to the reason for why they had been called up. It was obvious that they were there to be punished so why not get to it all ready? Suddenly they found Dumbledore's bright blue eyes glittering upon them.

"Well then, we shall just have to turn to… other people to tend to our, slight, problem. Won't we boys?"

"What?!" James squawked.

"Us?! Take care of Snivellus? By ourselves?" Sirius was clearly offended at the idea. _There's no __**way**__ we're taking care of that brat!!!_ They both thought simultaneously.

"I NOT a SNIV'US!!!" yelled a very angry little wizard who, unlike his shrinking teenaged self, stormed right over to Black and kicked his shin… hard.

"OUCH! You little bugger!" Black growled and tried to snatch the boy but he had found the safety of Lily's legs.

"I would suggest, in the future, that you and the other Marauders take care to use Severus's proper name. And Severus, we do not kick people. That was very naughty and I'm sure your new guardian did not appreciate it."

"Sorry Dumeldore." He apologized to the floor, then turned and stuck his tongue out at Sirius.

"Hey!!"

"Sevvy, don't do that." Lily said firmly, trying to hide a smile.

"Otay."

"Professor Dumbledore, surely you know that Sirius and I go home on the holidays too?" James reasoned. He didn't want to be stuck with a pint-sized Snape, no way!

"Yes, well, I'm certain that since you both caused this you would want to be of every service till young Severus is back in his correct condition. And since Remus is staying for the holidays surely you would want to keep him company? It would be terribly unfair if he had to take care of Severus by himself, especially since he is not the one who de-aged him."

"You wouldn't make Remus babysit! That's not fair!" James protested.

At this point Lily stepped in, "No James! What isn't fair is that you've harmed Severus _again_ with another brainless prank because you were bored in potions! Taking care of him during the break is the least you two could do as punishment; it might even teach you to be more responsible."

There was a soft knock on the office door, and Remus Lupin sidled into the room. He ruffled his curling blondish hair and smiled gently at everyone. "Well headmaster, what have we gotten ourselves into this time?"

"Are you a Remus?" piped up Severus, he'd been behind Lily's legs before but now he poked around to look at this new boy. He decided, immediately, that he liked Remus and strolled over to him to tug on his patched robes a little. "Are you?"

Remus looked nonplussed at seeing such a tiny form of the Marauders least favorite Slytherin student. "Um, yes I am."

Severus tugged again, "You have funny eyes."

Lupin smiled, this tiny Severus seemed much less waspish than his older self, maybe the change would be nice? "Yes well, I always thought yellow was my color."

"I like green." Severus replied, then glanced back at Lily with a heart-melting smile.

James groaned and rolled his eyes, Sirius just looked disgusted. Remus, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow at both of them and they quickly stopped.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "It would seem that your friends thought it would be amusing to de-age Severus, however the re-aging cure takes at least a month to brew and his parents are unable to take him, also Miss Evans is unavailable to watch him."

"That's fine headmaster, I'm sure that the three of us are more than capable of watching Sev here." Remus said cheerfully, shooting the other two a glare that could have frozen an erupting volcano when they opened their mouths to protest. _We are going to have a loooong discussion in the near future._ That look told them. Both of them shivered, and Severus tilted his head at them quizzically before he was scooped up by Remus.

"C'mon you two, let's leave the headmaster and professor Slughorn to their business of righting _your_ mistake."

Sirius and James shared a glance. _Our arses are toast. _Then they solemnly followed the third Marauder out.

Lily shook her head as they left with the little boy who was her best friend, hopefully Remus Lupin could keep those two in line around Severus. He did seem quite capable actually…

"Oh! Professor Dumbledore, before I forget I had a question about Sevvy- err-Severus."

"Yes Miss Evans?"

"Will he… remember all of this? His time as a toddler I mean?"

The wizened silver haired old wizard smiled twinklingly at her. "Oh yes, I daresay he'll remember every moment."

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

**Marauder's Mistake**

**Chapter**** 3: Discussions and Difficulties**

To say that Remus Lupin was not happy would have been an understatement. He strolled casually through the halls, lightly holding the little Slytherin boy in his arms facing forward so that the boy could eagerly point things out on their journey. However, both his fellow Marauders knew all too well that his cheerfulness was false; a happy front for the toddler in his arms and anyone they may encounter on their way to their dorm. It was the stiff set to the werewolf's shoulders that gave him away really, and both boys lagged behind enough so that they could speculate on how long they had to live once the wolf got them alone.

"Hey James?" Sirius hissed.

"Yeah?"

"How bad do you think this is going to be?"

James appeared to think hard for a moment and then looked seriously at his friend. "Do you remember when we put that potion in the Slytherin Quidditch team's shampoo that turned their hair pink?"

"Oh yeah." Sirius chuckled at that, it had easily been one of their best pranks ever.

"Remember what happened _after?"_ he pushed on, frustrated with Padfoot's short memory.

Suddenly Sirius paled. "Oh surely he wouldn't do… that again James?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking he's thinking."

"**Damn it**"

Remus turned around sharply and barked at them, "Don't use that language around Severus!!"

"They're naughty boys." Little Sev said, crossing his arms and pouting at them for making his new friend upset.

"Look who's talking you slimy git!" Black burst out despite James's hand on his shoulder, and he tried to take a threatening step towards the boy. _He just __**has**__ to be faking this__, the greasy little potions freak!_

Remus set the boy on his feet behind him and in a flash had grabbed his friend's upper arm as he reached for his wand. "If you even think about touching that I'll raise your robes and dust the seat of your uniform right here right now." He growled.

"He's faking!"

"He is _not_ faking and if you'd pay attention you'd see that."

Black looked over Mooney's shoulder and studied the diminutive boy, a bit too skinny even for a four year old, with his overlong greasy looking hair and petrified expression.

"Maybe… but maybe he's a good actor." He said grudgingly.

Remus rolled his eyes, "You know what Padfoot? You just gained yourself the first trip on my knee." He promised, thoroughly unimpressed by his friend. Then he reached down and took Severus's hand and continued around the corner to the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Carpe Dium." He intoned, and the portrait opened graciously for the Marauders. Remus prayed that there would be someone trustworthy in the common room to watch their new charge while he "discussed" his friend's actions with them. His prayers were answered when he saw two fellow Gryffindors, Frank and Alice.

"Oh my stars!" Alice called, "It's true then Remus? That is Severus?" the girl with spiky brown hair raced over to them and looked at the little boy who was attempting with limited success to hide behind Remus's battered old cloak.

"Yes, actually I was going to see if you and Frank would mind watching him a minute or two." Lupin's smile was all but chilling.

Frank approached cautiously, "Err, sure Mooney. We'd love to."

Alice leaned down to Severus and smiled, "Want to come play with us for a bit sweetie? We have fun little chess pieces you could play with."

But Severus clung to Remus's leg and looked at him appealingly. "Mooney no! I wanna play with you!"

"Now Severus, I need you to be a big boy while I deal with your other guardians. You don't want me to be upset with you, do you?" he asked him nicely, but Severus didn't miss the firm edge in his Mooney's voice.

Sev quickly put both hands behind his back and fiercely shook his head, making his hair fly. "No! I be good Mooney!"

Remus nodded and ruffled the slightly greasy hair; _We'll have to wash that tonight_, "Good boy. You just play with Alice and Frank and I'll be right back down in time for lunch."

"Otay." He mumbled, pouting slightly but not wanting to upset his Mooney.

Remus nodded his thanks at their fellow Gryffindors before jerking his head at the stairs to the boy's dorms, clearly intending James and Sirius to precede him. Both boys did, looking like they were heading to an execution. When they reached their dorm room Remus shut the door and locked it, then used a series of silencing charms on the room to prevent anyone outside from hearing any… unusual noises. James sat with a huff on his bed and Sirius belly flopped onto his own dejectedly; both were thankful that the fourth Marauder, Peter, had left early for the holidays.

Remus opened the trunk at the foot of his bed and extricated a flat-backed oak hairbrush that was smooth and well polished on its bristle-less back. He took a seat on his own bed, facing the other Marauders with a grim look and setting the brush down within easy reach on his red and gold comforter.

"Okay, whose idea was this?"

James looked at Sirius, who was still face down on his own bed. _Of course Padfoot; just leave all the explaining to Prongs, as usual._ He thought bitterly.

"Erm, well you see, we both thought of it Mooney. That is, Padfoot found the recipe but we both devised it at the same time really. We didn't expect it to de-age him to a sprat though. It was only supposed to shave off four years at most."

Remus raised an eyebrow; "And that I suppose is meant to excuse what you two did?" he said sarcastically. "You both realize that if Severus's potion had been slightly out of order that cloud could have burned him, or worse? As it is, now we three are going to play 'daddies' to a four year old Snape."

Sirius propped his head on his arms, looking about as contrite as he usually did after pranking Severus Snape; which was not at all. James on the other hand had the self conscience to study the floor.

"It's not as if Snivellus has ever gotten a potion wrong before, the ickle potion master." Sirius grumbled at his fellow Marauder, disregarding the fact that he was currently on thin ice with the wolf.

"That's _**not**_the point and you know it Padfoot!" Remus snapped finally losing his patience and causing Black to flinch.

"When will the two of you stop behaving like a couple of idiotic first years and stop putting Snape in danger?! I know you don't like the snarky git, I don't much care for him myself, but you both have to admit that you two are the ones who instigate most of the confrontations!"

Sirius snorted at this and Remus growled back. "Right, I can see I'm not getting through by ordinary means. In that case Padfoot, allow me to 'discuss' this further with your arse end. Maybe I'll make better progress that way."

Sirius gave Remus a glare that lesser students would have shrunk from, but sullenly got up and stalked to his friend.

Remus had long ago decided that the Marauders needed a bit of structure in their group. At the time, around the fall of their third year, both James and Sirius had whole heartedly supported it. Then the discipline had started. Since Remus was usually such a rule abiding safety nut it was not often that he wound up across James or Sirius's laps. Although when he had snuck to the library one night when he was supposed to be recuperating from the full moon Sirius had, admittedly, relished catching him and reddening his bottom for it. Sirius just didn't like being on the receiving end.

"You know the drill Sirius. Pants down please." Remus requested.

Sirius rolled his eyes and unhitched his belt and fly before roughly taking his school pants down, revealing a pair of Gryffindor red boxers with gold lions. Remus made no acknowledgement other than to grab his left bicep and haul him over his left thigh, tucking him under his arm.

"I'm really sick of finding you here Sirius." He sighed.

"You don't _find_ me here Mooney; you _put_ me here, remember?" he snapped back, despite his less than desirable position.

**SMACK!** Remus landed a sharp swat to the center of Sirius's boxer-clad bottom. "OW!"

"What was that Padfoot? I didn't quite catch it."

"Mmph, nothing." He grumbled.

"Good. Now since lecturing first didn't work I'm going to spank first. Then we'll try talking in a civilized manner." Having said that Remus abruptly yanked down Sirius's bowers and landed his palm briskly in the middle of his tanned cheeks. "James, pick a corner if you would." He said curtly as he peppered Sirius's backside with hard spanks.

Sirius twitched and bit his lips as the warm-up began, and his bottom was slowly and evenly heated by his friend's palm. He was determined not to make any sounds this time, after all it had been a perfectly reasonable prank and it was only Snivellus after all.

Remus quickly formed a circuit and went up Sirius's right buttock and down his left and around again several times till the bared tush before him was a dusty rose color. By now Sirius had begun twisting his hips under Remus's grasp to try to get away, but he just tightened his arm to keep him in place. Sirius had already begun making indignant yelps and groans, but Remus had yet to hear any really contrite sniffles, so it was with a heavy sigh that he jacked his left thigh up to arch Sirius's back and expose his sit-spots.

When Sirius felt his bottom arched up and out by Remus he hitched his breath. _Oh Merlin no!_ Sirius tried to look over his shoulder at Remus desperately. _This dog isn't above begging now and again! _He thought to himself.

"Mooney please! Y-you're right! I shouldn't have concocted that prank with James! Snivel-uh- Snape didn't deserve it!"

"That's nice to hear Padfoot, but we both know you don't mean that for real. You just want to get out of your spanking." Remus said resolutely, and without further ado began soundly spanking at the unprotected and fullest part of the muscular bottom. Sirius growled when his plan failed and started yipping again as his bottom cheeks were flattened and sprung back by the werewolf's firm hand. He was quite certain that he would never be able to sit again as his backside felt like a dragon was roasting it, and worse yet he could see that damned hairbrush on the comforter!

When his friends sit-spot began to turn a slightly brighter red than the rest of his cheeks Remus was relieved to hear a heavy sob behind him, and saw his friends feet begin gaining purchase to stamp the thick carpet.

"Okay! Okay, Mooney I'm sorry! I'm really _really_ sorry about Snape being a tod- OW- toddler again! It was stupid and I'm sorry! Please stop…"

"Easy Padfoot, nearly done now." He said as comfortingly as he could, reaching for the dreaded hairbrush with a grimace. He hated reducing Sirius to a dribbling puddle but damn him he couldn't keep up with these pranks! Especially the risky ones, he and James were lucky not to be expelled for this one. And Severus… well, he was just plain lucky in this case. With that in his mind, Remus was able to land ten hard smacks with the hairbrush, covering Sirius's taut behind and focusing the last three on his well tenderized sit-spot. When he had finished he threw the brush back on the bed and began rubbing slow circles in his friends back.

"It's all right now Sirius, cry yourself out. I'm right here." He murmured.

He needed no further encouragement than that; Sirius began sobbing for all he was worth, as much from the stinging pain in his hind end as from the embarrassment of being scolded again. "I, I really am sorry." He spluttered.

"Yeah well, I'm sorry too, but you guys can't keep up these risky pranks. You're lucky Dumbledore didn't have to expel you two, Snape's parent certainly would have been within their rights to ask for that."

"I know…" he mumbled, feeling sorry for himself and about as big as a Cornish pixie. When Sirius's breathing had settled back to normal aside for some sniffles Remus patted his head and stood him up. "Okay, go take James's place and keep that red arse on display please; no rubbing."

"Yessir." He said sadly, making his way to said corner and standing there with his head down.

Remus didn't need to ask James to come over; he had already stood by Remus's knees and was dropping his trousers. Once his black boxer briefs were revealed he began to apologize.

"Look Mooney, I'm not trying to get out of this but I just want you to know that I really do feel bad. I mean we didn't even think about how it could've gone wrong and all, we didn't want him hurt bad just embarrassed a little."

"All right, Prongs. I'm glad to hear that you're being responsible…" Remus said even as he tipped James over his lap, "now I just need to get you to think of that before you decide to mess with people's potions."

"I'm becoming more and more convinced." James offered helpfully.

Remus chuckled a bit, "Great, glad I'm getting through." He said, peeling the underwear down from his fellow Marauders bottom. Since James was already feeling lousy over what they had done it took Remus barely two circuits with his hand to have James wriggling in discomfort and hitching his breath. Without any warning he then tipped his right knee up and his left knee down, baring the sit-spots to more attention and grabbing the hair brush so he could finish. It was gut wrenching for Remus when they both got in deep trouble and he had to punish them both. Ten hard spanks later and he was finally able to toss the brush with a satisfying clack to the floor and begin rubbing circles in James's back.

Almost a half hour after the bad boys had gone upstairs with his Mooney little Sev was delighted to see his new friend come down the steps and back to the common room. Frank and Alice had been nice to him, and even let him play with the funny little chess men that smashed each other, but he really wanted his Mooney.

"Mooney! We played chess and I was even winning! Frank said so." He informed Remus, bouncing cheerfully around his legs and smiling.

"Wining eh? Sounds good to me." Remus replied with a grin, sinking into one of the comfy armchairs by the fireplace grate. Severus nodded excitedly, then looked at the other boys who had come back as well. They didn't look as mean as before, in fact…

"Hey! How come you bin crying?" he asked matter-of-factly, going over to the bigger boy with long black wavy hair.

"What?! I, I'm not- I wasn't crying." Sirius said indignantly, angry that the little brat had drawn Frank and Alice's attention to his red puffy eyes.

Severus tipped his little head and wrinkled his nose at the bigger boy. He didn't know why he was lying about crying, but he decided he needed a hug anyway. Hugs, he was convinced in his four year old brain, made everything better. So he swiftly wrapped his arms around the boy's knees, patting the back of them in a comforting manner.

Sirius stopped dead when he felt the tiny fragile arms imprison his legs. He looked down upon the little inky head and then helplessly up at Remus. Mooney of course was no help, he just sat there with an idiotic grin on his face and… oh Merlin! James was doing the same damn thing!

"Err, what are you doing Sniv-_hem_- Severus?" he had caught Remus's glare at the oft used insult just in time.

"I hugging you and making you better." Was the reply, said as though perhaps Sirius was lacking gray matter for having to ask.

"Ahh, of course." Sirius said; he was actually kind of touched really. The little boy obviously wasn't the Snape he knew, the one who instead would have taken the opportunity to take a cheap shot at Sirius with that oily smirk. Instead he was trying to comfort him. However, he wasn't exactly letting him go either…

Severus suddenly felt himself being picked up, one hand settling under his bum and the other going behind his shoulder as the bigger boy carried him over to join the others. Since he was now at a more appropriate level he hugged the boy's shoulders and began playing with his hair a bit.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Sirius." was his awkward reply.

"Sir' us?" he said, his little mouth unable to pronounce the name properly. He tried pronouncing it like Remus.

"Uh, why don't you call me Padfoot?" Sirius offered helpfully; not too keen on hearing his name mutilated by the toddler.

"Padfoot?"

"Right-o." he nodded.

"Otay." Severus said happily. He decided he might like this Padfoot after all, he hadn't called him that mean name again, and he was even holding him up!

Suddenly the portrait hole opened and Lily came in carrying a picnic basket in her arms. "Hey there Sevvy! I brought lunch for us!"

"Lily! I played games and this is Padfoot and there are lots and lots of pictures in the school and they talk and walk Mooney says so and everything is really big and Padfoot was crying but now he feels better!" Severus babbled rapidly to fill Lily in on all that she had missed from when he last saw her in the Dumeldore man's office.

Sirius winced when the little big mouth mentioned him crying again and felt his face heat up as Lily looked at him funny. _What was I thinking? How could I possibly like this little snake?_ Then all of a sudden the inky little head rested on his shoulder and he saw a tiny thumb pop into the boy's mouth. _Oh yeah, that's how…_

"There's enough for everyone, the house elves really outdid themselves." She explained to the small assembly in the Gryffindor common room. Frank and Alice however, stood hand in hand.

"Thanks Lily, but I think we'll go down to the great hall. It's the last day of classes after all, but I'll see you in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Alice said as they walked out.

Lily waved and then set the basket on the table, James rushing to help her unpack the sandwiches, jams, fruits, and pies that the elves had packed them. Sirius took the time to carefully seat himself on the well padded couch nearest Remus. Sev settled himself comfortably on his Padfoot's lap and grinned. This was going to be a good lunch, and he could feel his mouth watering already at what his Lily and, and…

"Hey! What's your name?" Sev's tiny voice piped up behind James.

"Why don't you just call me Prongs." James offered, since the little Slytherin was already using all their Marauder nicknames.

"Otay!" he said happily.

"Have you been a good boy today for your daddies?" Lily asked Severus. Sirius personally felt that calling them his _daddies_ was going a step too far but then he supposed that the little tot wouldn't be able to manage to pronounce _guardian_ if he couldn't get Sirius right.

"Yup! I'm always good Lily." The little boy asserted. Sirius rolled his eyes; _We'll see how long that lasts._

"Well I'm glad to hear that Sevvy." She cooed at him, handing him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

In about ten minutes time Mooney, James, Lily and Sirius were astounded at the amount of jelly on Severus's hands, face, robes, and much to his disgust; Sirius himself. Sirius found out the hard way that having the boy eat whilst sitting in your lap was a very unwise thing to do, particularly when jelly was involved. To his growing horror, Lily was now handing the boy a piece of cherry pie.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked irritably. James snorted and Remus chuckled at their friend's misfortune.

"Um, giving him his dessert? He did eat all of his lunch." She said reasonably, the pie halted in mid-transfer. Severus was currently stretching his little purple covered arms as far as they would reach towards the unattainable food.

"Paaaaadfooooooot! I want pie pwease!" Severus whined, stretching out the Gryffindor's name and making James and Remus laugh outright.

"Are you nuts?! We're wearing most of that lunch thanks, and I for one, do not want to add cherry to my wardrobe."

Sev turned to look up at Sirius with a heart melting puppy pout. "I be clean Padfoot, I promise." He said in a waifish tone of voice.

Even Sirius Black could not be resolute against such tactics. "Okay, but you're cleaning up after young man." He said; looking at James as if to say _And I'd better get help too._

While Severus was occupied Lily filled the boys in on what would happen for the rest of the day. Dumbledore had released them from their remaining classes since it was the final day anyway and because Lily had volunteered to share her notes and bring them any assignments they may miss. The headmaster had also thoughtfully supplied a new wardrobe for the little boy that would be found in the trunk at the base of the spare fifth bed in the Marauders dorm room. This included tiny uniforms, robes and even some jeans and green and black sweaters for play clothes. He also wanted them informed that Severus's wand was safely in his office and that they were to keep the child away from their own wands, as he was likely to want to play with them.

"Right; well that should be all… I have to make it next class so any questions before I go?"

Right on cue Severus raised one cherry gooed and jam covered hand. (Though he had managed to contain said cherry goo to himself.)

"Yes Sevvy?"

"When I see Lily again?"

"After classes today, when I bring the boys their notes, but then I leave tonight for home." She explained calmly.

"Oh… Lily have to go 'way?" he asked in a wheedling voice.

"Yes Sev, I do."

"Otay." He said sadly. Lily smiled at him and, leaning over gave him a kiss on his somewhat sticky cheek. He brightened remarkably quickly at this bit of attention.

"I'll see you all later, bye!"

And with that the Marauders were left with their new charge for the afternoon.

To be continued…

AN: Hey there and thanks to all my readers! Also thank you for the amazingly positive reviews, this is my first fanfic and I'm glad people like it! That's all for now, but please keep reading and reviewing!


	4. Chapter 4

**Marauder's Mistake**

**Chapter 4: ****Bathing a Slytherin**

It had taken the boys about twenty minutes and a lot of talking to convince the boy to wash up and change his clothing but eventually Remus had won out by telling him that they would only go outside to play if Severus changed and let them get rid of the various sticky substances covering him. James picked out a pair of black jeans and a green turtleneck for him, and upon seeing the old gray underpants that the boy had been wearing, exchanged them for a new dark blue pair with stars on them. He promptly threw away the worn out pair, wondering why Severus had bothered wearing them as a teenager since they were so badly worn.

"What we do outside Mooney? We play tag?" Sev asked as he was skipping ahead of his three guardians. All three of said guardians were trying to fight the feeling of surrealism at seeing Severus Snape skipping.

"I'm sure we could if you'd like." Remus offered.

"Or I could take you up on my broom if you like." James offered, enjoying the look of pure glee on the four year olds face as he spun around.

"Really really? You mean it Prongs?" he asked, running over and tugging on James's robe.

"Sure. I'm always happy to fly."

"Yaaaay!" he squealed and ran off ahead of them, making Sirius walk faster to catch up.

"Severus! There are steps around that corner don't run!" he called out, but he was too late. The little boy rounded the corner and there was a thump followed by a screech.

"**OOOWIEEEE!****Waaaaahhhhhh**!"

Sirius spun around the corner with Remus and James on his heels as the boy started vocalizing his boo-boo. Sirius let out a sigh of relief to see that Severus was only sitting two steps down and clutching a skinned knee. Sirius had been picturing a broken leg or neck. He was the first to rush down the steps and scoop up the toddler, sitting on the hard stone with a wince and patting his narrow little back.

"Easy there, its okay it's just skinned not the end of the world." He said gently, prying away chubby little hands and getting a better look at the abraded and bleeding knee.

"It huuuuurrrrts Padfoot!" he sobbed, rubbing hard at his eyes.

"Yes well… next time listen when one of us tells you not to do something okay?" he said, feeling crumby for having to scold him when he'd already gotten hurt.

James knelt beside the two and took out his wand, casting a quick healing charm he'd learned from Madame Pomfry. Severus looked at his now clean and not hurting knee and look up at James in awe.

"You have a magic stick like my mommy!"

All three teens looked around at each other and Remus got a very stern look and took one of Severus's hands, tapping it firmly as he spoke.

"Severus Snape, you are not allowed to touch our magic- uh- our wands. Ever. Understand?"

Severus looked surprised that his Mooney was talking to him in such a serious voice. "O-otay Mooney."

"I mean it, if you ever touch our wands or anyone else's we'll have to…" Remus took a deep breath, "give you a spanking."

Little Sev opened his eyes wider than a house elf's; his Mooney had just threatened to spank him! That was completely outrageous to the little boy. Only his mommy had ever spanked him and only because he had used her magic stick to blow up a cauldron. He hadn't intended to blow it up; he'd just wanted to make it float like his mommy had to get it in the fireplace to boil in the first place. He looked sadly up at Sirius and pouted.

"You spank me now for running when you tell me not to?" he asked him sullenly.

"Um, no. Not this time, but next time you need to listen okay Severus?"

"Otay Padfoot, I be good now. Oh! And thank you Prongs for making my boo-boo go 'way." He added with a charming smile. All three boys felt themselves fighting the urge to tickle the little bundle, and James ruffled his overlong hair. "No problem Sev. Now let's go out and play tag."

The boys successfully managed to spend the rest of the afternoon playing chase and tag with the little boy; which eventually devolved into a snowball fight in the freshly fallen snow that coated the grounds. Even when little Severus ran bodily into a snowdrift in an ill-fated attempt to escape getting tagged by James. He landed with a _whumph_ sound and a shower of powder, stuck face first with his arms splayed. James laughed and extricated the little boy; he came away from the offending drift completely white in the front, face and all, with all the snow that had stuck to him. He stomped and shook like a puppy till he'd cleared off all the snow, falling onto his bum in the process and hopping up with a yelp at the cold he'd seated himself in.

Finally, Remus decided they needed to go in. After all, Sev had been completely soaked and his pale skin was looking decidedly bluish. Fortunately the little boy had decided that he was tired enough to agree without any argument. They had barely settled themselves in the common room with steaming hot chocolate when Lily came in from the last class of the day.

"Lily!!! We played in the snow!" Severus said, hopping off of James lap with his hot chocolate and running to her.

"Severus what did I say about running inside?" Lily and Remus were impressed that it was Sirius who warned the little boy. Severus stopped and looked back at his Padfoot warily. "Not to?"

"Right, so walk to Lily. Especially with a hot drink, you don't want to scald yourself."

"Yes Padfoot." He said, although he had a small pout in place as he did as he was told.

Lily giggled and picked him up when he got to her, suddenly frowning as she did so. "Guys, he's completely soaked through!!" she said accusingly, holding the sodden little wizard to her hip.

"We just got in!" James said angrily.

"Yeah he'll be fine for a hot chocolate and we can change him before dinner." Sirius reasoned. Even to Remus this sounded logical and he smiled up at the irate red head. Until of course she fixed them all with a withering look.

"No… you can get your buns in gear and give this little boy a nice warm bath to keep him from catching a cold; unless of course you'd all like to deal with a sick and fussy Severus Snape?"

The thought of a fussy four year old had Sirius James and Remus on their feet instantly. Although none of them were happy at the thought of bathing Severus, he was after all going to be returned to normal and Merlin only knew what he'd remember. So with this in mind Sirius looked at Lily questioningly.

"Hey Lily, would you want to give him a bath?" he asked, as soon as the words left his mouth the other two boys began to look hopeful as well.

Lily on the other hand remembered what Dumbledore had said to her and turned pink. "Absolutely not! You are his guardians and you're not shirking your responsibilities on me!"

Her flush confirmed the boys worst fears, Severus Snape was very likely to remember this bath… and all of the others he was sure to need over the next four weeks of vacation.

Remus was the one to break the tense silence with a sigh and reached out to take the boy from Lily. Severus however, did not like where this was going at all.

"NO! No bath!" he demanded loudly. The teens all stared in shock, until now the little boy hadn't really yelled at all; except when he'd kicked Sirius.

"Now Severus…" Lily said softly, trying to be as convincing as possible, she did **not** want to see her friend get in trouble. "Don't you want to warm up and play in the tub?"

"NO!" he said, just as stubbornly as before.

Remus could see the look on the toddlers face; he recognized it as the one the teenage version of Snape wore whenever he plowed headfirst into a fight with the Marauders despite all common sense. He was sure that the only thing keeping the Slytherin from hitting Lily was the fact that she was Lily.

"Severus Snape, you are getting a bath and that is the end of this discussion." He said firmly, he was not going to argue with a toddler. No way.

"NO!" was the defiant answer. Severus glowered at him from under his curtain of hair. Lily by now was thoroughly shocked at his behavior; she'd never have pictured Sev as being so naughty.

"Severus that is enough! You shouldn't talk to your daddies like that!" she scolded and, before thinking, tightened the arm around his shoulders before bringing the hand supporting his bottom away and returning it with a sound _thwap!_She was rewarded with a yelp and a pair of large obsidian eyes looking at her in horror.

"Lily! That hurt my… my bum." He whispered the last bit, his face turning pink. His Lily had swatted him, and hard!

Lily herself couldn't believe what she had done and hurriedly passed him off to Remus, "Yes well, you were very naughty. Now go with the boys and take your bath, and if you act up more and they punish you don't cry to me. I can't believe you behaved like that."

Sirius and James followed Remus up to their dorm, Sirius himself feeling caught between feeling bad for the little guy and feeling glad at seeing even Evans not take his lip.

Severus pouted the whole way up to the dorm room and adjoining bathroom, but he remained quiet while Remus started filling the tub. James and Sirius sat on the spare bed that was going to be Severus's and stood the grumpy child between the two of them. Sirius was worried, a screaming child, in his opinion, would be better than the scowling and teary eyes little boy they had in front of them. James sighed and tried to get ahold of his sodden and chilly sweater.

"C'mon Sev, let's get you undressed."

"No!" the little boy whined and sat on the floor heavily, wrapping his arms around himself. Both boys heard a distinct sniffle. They shared a look and Sirius sat on the floor beside him.

"Lily mad at me…" he mumbled to him, sniffling again.

"Yes well you were very naughty in front of her, she wasn't happy to see that."

"But I hate baths." He said sadly, twiddling his fingers so he wouldn't have to look at his Padfoot.

_Ha! I knew it, Snivellus-uh… Severus doesn't bath__e_ He thought triumphantly, he had been trying to prove this to the other Marauders for years, insisting that the only way the Slytherin could be that greasy was if he rarely bathed. Although this confirmation didn't cheer him as much as he thought it would.

"Why Sevvy?" he asked, ignoring that James eyebrows scaled up when he used the cutsie nickname.

"The soap gets in my eyes and the water gets cold and… I just don't like it!" the little boy shook his head and made his inky hair fly.

"What if I promise to be careful with the soap and keep the water warm?" Sirius offered.

"Promise?" the little boys pleading tone made him wince.

"Yep, now let Prongs undress you. I think Mooney's got the water ready." He said, having heard the water stop running.

He looked at his Padfoot and then at his Prongs, he really really really wanted to believe his new friends; but he'd been lied to so much… Severus wrapped his arms tight to himself to protect his wet clothing and ran from them as fast as he could. He heard the two older boys shout in surprise when he dashed from them. He was being very very naughty and he knew it, but he didn't want that horrible bath. He was just about to reach the door when he was scooped off his feet by two powerful arms. "Nooo! Prongs put me down!"

James was absolutely shocked when the little boy turned and ran for the door across the room. He immediately spun on the bed and made to grab the toddler. _Thank Merlin for being a seeker! Godric's underwear ablaze how does he run so fast?!_

Success!! He snatched the boy and tucked him under his arm so that the boy's bottom was facing forward. He scowled, James could only tolerate so much misbehavior and he was at his limit.

"Severus I have had it, now we promised to be nice and you just keep talking back or trying to run off. Now do you think that was good?"

"N-no, but I'm sorry Prongs! I really am!" he said, wiggling and trying to sound repentant even though he was still trying to escape.

"Yes well let's just ensure you remember, young man." He said grimly, he now understood how Remus felt when he had to scold them. Remus himself was standing in the doorway of the bathroom watching; he nodded when James gave him a questioning look. James bit back a sigh and took down the little jeans, pulling them right over the trainers and tossing them into a hamper, then he hooked a finger into the waistband of the star covered blue underpants and tugged them down. He revealed a chubby round little bottom that was slightly damp from the wetness of his clothes.

Biting his lower lip he raised his palm and gave the bum a firm spank, right in the middle over the crack and causing a light pink hand print to appear. Severus yelped and tucked his legs up, managing to only poke the target area out more. James allowed his hand to fall six more times, lowering where his hand landed on the bottom each time, the final three coming down on the plump curve of Severus's sit-spot. As soon as he was done he tipped the child a bit more, who was bawling by this point, to make sure he hadn't somehow inflicted more damage than he thought.

Nope, the rounded little tushie was just a dusty pink, a bit darker on the sit-spots which meant that Sev would likely be sleeping on his tummy that night. Sev himself however was crying hopelessly and didn't seem aware that James wasn't spanking him anymore. So James went over to the foot of Severus's bed and sat the boy on his lap facing him, letting his warm bottom hang between his slightly spread legs so he wouldn't have to sit on it. He shushed and patted firmly between the narrow shoulder blades while Severus babbled incoherently.

"I sorry Prongs! Sorry I been bad, sorry I yell at Padfoot an Mooney and Lil- _hic_ – Lily! You gonna put me away now?" he asked the last bit with a definite tremble in his little voice.

"Put you away?" Remus asked, crossing the room to sit in front of James and add his own hand on top of the inky mop of hair. Sirius sat on James's right side, they all had the same look of confusion and concern, although little Severus was too busy hiding his face in James's chest to notice.

"Uh huh, when I be bad at home and Daddy's there I get put away…" he sniffled.

"Where?" they all asked at once.

Severus only mumbled. James stopped patting and leaned Severus away from him to look at the boy, "Where do you get put away when you're bad?"

"In the trunk…" he whispered. "You put me away now Prongs?" he asked, he knew that Prongs would say yes, but the look of… love? Yes that was it, loving concern and shock, gave him the faint hope that maybe he wouldn't have to be put away after all.

"NO! Absolutely… no never!" James held the boy tightly and looked him in the eyes carefully. "You will never _**ever**_ be put in a trunk by us Severus. That is not an appropriate punishment, understand? Mooney Padfoot and I will never do that to you; neither will Lily or anyone else okay?"

Sev had jumped at the vehemenant tone in his Prongs voice. His voice was too loud but… never get put away ever again? That sounded so good to the child's ears that he wouldn't have cared if Prongs Mooney and Padfoot put on tutus and danced while singing "I'm a little teapot". He looked up at Prongs eagerly.

"Never ever again? No trunk not never ever?" he asked, as though the teen may be promising to introduce him to a crumple horned snorkack.

James and the others all said at the same time "Never Sev."

None of them could believe what they had just heard, who could have been so cruel to put a four year old in a trunk when they misbehaved! Even Sirius found himself completely disgusted at the idea of the Slytherin being treated that way, and who knew what happened when he got older? Therefore it was Sirius who scooped up the boy and, holding him tightly he went into the bathroom with him. Severus had actually brightened quite a bit with the news he wouldn't be put in the trunk, despite the fact that his bottom was still dark pink.

Sirius sat on the edge of the tub, carefully settling the boy's bottom like he'd seen James do he took the bottom of the boys shirt gently. "Okay Sevvy, can you hold up your arms high for me? We need to get you in the tub before the water gets cold and we have to refill it." He grinned at him.

Sev immediately put his arms up as high as he could. "Like this Padfoot?"

Sirius nodded and pulled the damp sweater off the tiny frame before picking him up and depositing him in the still steaming bathwater. "There we go!" he said.

Severus squirmed as his sore bum landed on the bottom of the tub, but he was determined not to complain since his Prongs and Mooney and Padfoot had told him he would never be put away by them. Remus stood in the doorway and made sure that Sirius found the bubble bath he'd managed to scrounge up and a baby shampoo that wouldn't hurt Severus's eyes. He had to smile at the sight of Sirius trying to wash Sev's hair while the little boy had decided that walking the length of the tub was far more comfortable than sitting in it. Sirius, for his part, was having trouble keeping up with the child's pacing.

"Severus, I need to wash that mop you call your hair; now stay still a moment." Sirius said in a helpless tone.

"But Paaaaadfooooot!! It hurts to sit on my bum." The tot said with a slight pout, tipping his head down and looking up at the Gryffindor reproachfully.

Remus decided to take pity on his friend and strolled over to the bath, "Well it wouldn't have to hurt if you hadn't misbehaved. Now c'mon and let Padfoot finish your bath so we can pop you out and have some supper okay?"

Severus hung his head and sighed loudly, but turned his back to both of them and then sat himself down, squirming around as he did. Sirius chuckled and promised the little boy he'd be very quick with his hair so he could stand again. Once he finished he caught the boy up under his armpits and swung him out of the tub. Severus giggled as he landed on the soft bathmat and was enveloped in a plush white towel and scrubbed vigorously.

"All right you little towel monster, dash out there and let Prongs dress you okay?"

"Otay Padfoot!" and with that the mini Slytherin scampered out of the bathroom where Remus and Sirius heard him pounce on James with a "rawr"!

Remus grinned at his friend as he emptied the tub. "So, Severus is not only Sevvy now but also a 'towel monster' aye?" he teased.

Sirius flushed, "Well it hard to make fun of him as a tot, all it would do is make him cry you know."

"Funny, that crying didn't bother you when he was older…" Remus mused, his expression unreadable.

"Oh come on Mooney!!"

"Come on what? I'm merely commenting on the fact that turning on the waterworks never worked for Snape before when it came to you and James. And considering what we just learned… well, I'm impressed that you both acted like you cared."

"It wasn't an act!" Sirius growled, he was offended that Mooney thought he could be that mean. "I happen to care very much about that! To think that anyone could treat their baby-; I mean even my mum was never that bad! And that's saying something Remus that really is! Merlin only knows what he must go through now…"

"Oh, I think Severus has improved in his abilities to avoid confrontations by now. Actually, he really just solves the problem by avoiding people altogether don't you think?"

Sirius looked at the werewolf carefully; his tone was irritated but not directed at Sirius. Actually it seemed directed at the older Severus. "What are you getting at Mooney?" he asked tentatively.

"Hm? Oh, nothing we need to worry about now Sirius. We can think about it later." He said with a crooked smile.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and then shook his head, "Okay Mooney, but I know that look, you are planning something."

Remus just rolled his eyes. "Oh I'm planning huh? Planning and plotting, that's me!" he barked and leapt after Sirius who yelped and ran ahead to get away. Both boys bounded onto the bed already occupied by James and Severus, who had managed to be wiggled into a pair of underwear, and all of them wound up in an untidy heap.

James, holding Severus, finally managed to extricate them from the wrestling pair of Marauders. "C'mon guys, if we don't dress Sev and get downstairs soon Evans is gonna think we drowned the kid. Or possibly ourselves." He said, swatting at an available bottom and receiving a yelp from Remus.

"Hey! I'm the dominant one here!" he teased, giving James a fake glare.

"Oh yeah?" Sirius challenged, bowling him over easily. "Who's the alpha wolf now?" he grinned.

"Prongs, what does domnimant mean?" a little voice piped.

All three teens looked at the little boy in surprise, then broke out laughing.

"What's so FUNNY!!?" Severus shouted in frustration, his new friends weren't making sense at all and it wasn't fair!

Suddenly a hand swatted his little bum firmly. "Ouch! Mooney!" he whimpered and put a chubby hand over his offended posterior, glaring at the Marauder who was looking at him upside down from the bed under Padfoot.

"There is no need to be yelling Sev. It's naughty to yell inside, or else just to get attention." Remus said simply, struggling up to pet between the narrow shoulders.

"Yes Mooney." He pouted.

"Okay little guy, let's finish getting you ready for supper shall we? You can even pick what to wear." James said, in an effort to cheer the boy up. It worked, large obsidian eyes glowed up at him.

"Really!?"

"Yep."

James regretted telling Severus this as soon as the boy settled upon a bright orange shirt and dark green corduroy pants. He opened his mouth to try to convince him to wear something different, but Remus reminded him that he had said Severus could pick what _he_ wanted, and they certainly didn't want the boy thinking that they lied to him. James sighed and looked helplessly at the ceiling; he didn't want to think about what Lily would say to him about the boy's state of dress when she saw him.

Sure enough, Lily's eyes went wide when the clashingly dressed little boy got to the bottom of the stairs. "Wow Sev, that's a… different look for you." She said, looking questioningly up at the Marauders as they came downstairs behind him.

"I promised he could pick. We're only going to dinner anyhow." James explained.

Lily nodded, she noticed how hesitant Severus was to come near her and how his attention was on his trainers.

"Did you have a nice bath Severus?" she asked him. He nodded, still eying his little shoes with deep interest.

"Did you behave then?"

At first he nodded and then shook his head, casting a pleading look at the three older boys. Surely they wouldn't make him confess to his Lily himself? But Remus raised his eyebrows in an unmistakable questioning gesture. Severus heaved a heavy sigh and looked sadly up at Lily.

"No… I yelled and ran away and-and…" he took another breath "and Prongs spanked me!" he spilled it out in one rush and started forward but then halted about halfway from Lily's legs, hands over his eyes and whimpering again.

"Oh, why are you standing there Sevvy?" she asked, worried that he was afraid of approaching her.

"Y-you to-told me not to come crying if I got in trouble and punished again." he said sadly, clearly wanting her to forgive him but trying to obey what she'd said.

"Oh dear." She said, angry at herself for forgetting how she'd snapped at him. Then she went over and kneeled down to hug him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that Sev."

He nodded his inky head, and that was when she noticed… "You guys washed his hair!! It looks wonderful!" she exclaimed, petting the soft hair.

Sirius grinned broadly, "That would be my doing." He said proudly.

Severus looked up at Lily with a slight blush. "I helped! I sat still even though it hurt my bum."

Lily laughed and petted his head. "Well, that was very good of you Sevvy."

Severus smiled up at her, his Lily had forgiven him for being bad and that in his mind was all that mattered. Suddenly his belly gave a humongous growl. "My tummy talked Lily!" he said excitedly, poking it to see if it would make an even funnier sound for his amusement.

Remus chuckled and scooped him up under his arm, "And that is our cue to get to dinner I think." He grinned.

"Mooney! I wanna walk, I have legs and I'm a big boy!" Severus protested.

"If you're so big how can I carry you?"

"Moooooooooooneeeeeeeeeeey!!!" he whined, drawing out the nickname. James and Sirius laughed behind the pair, and even Lily couldn't hide her amusement.

"Just this time short stuff okay? It would make me feel better." He said in a pleading tone.

"It would?" the little boy said doubtfully.

"Yep. It would indeed." He asserted.

"Otay, but only for right now; I wanna walk back by myself."

"Alright alright, if you must." He teased.

When they got to the Great Hall there was an instant silence that spread throughout the hall. Every eye was on the three Marauders and the brightly colored bundle in Remus's arms. Severus began squirming uncomfortably, and James stepped in front of the group and gave the room an intimidating look that took care of most of the oglers. The four teens and toddler sat down to dinner, which Sirius was horrified to see was spaghetti and meatballs. _Oh crap… he's gonna need another bath!_ Lily however, saw the look that Sirius was wearing and took pity on the boys.

"Here Sev, let's put a big napkin on and keep that cool shirt from being stained okay?" she offered.

"Otay Lily! You really like my shirt?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, it's really colorful." She smiled at him affectionately and he began blushing.

"Colorful! Try blinding Evans!" said a scornful voice from the Slytherin table.

All of them turned to see Bellatrix Black sitting and looking at Severus with cruel pleasure glinting in her eyes.

"I'm blinding? Is that a good thing lady?" he asked Bellatrix, oblivious to fact that she was clearly not being friendly to him.

"No, it means that shirt is as hideous as you are." She sniped.

Severus's eyes went wide. "Huh?"

Before Bellatrix could say anything else however, Sirius had stood in front of him protectively.

"Why don't you just skive off Bella?" he growled.

She grinned sardonically at him and flipped her hair over her shoulder, "Oh Sirius, cousin dear! You're defending a Slytherin; and Snape at that! How adorable." She said in a mocking baby voice.

"He's a baby! You just bugger off!" he barked back.

"Ah Sirius… your comebacks are as thoughtful as usual." She rolled her eyes, making a show of being unimpressed with her cousin.

Sev looked at the girl with her wavy Black hair and pale, fine-featured face and decided he didn't like the way she looked, or the way she was talking to his Padfoot. "You're a mean lady, leave my Padfoot alone." He snapped, glaring as Lily tried to make him turn around.

"Severus let Sirius deal with it and eat your supper." She said softly.

"At least I'm not an ickle baby boy Sev-Sev." Bellatrix remarked, goading the boy.

Severus was off the bench in a moment and stomped off. "I'm _**not**_ a little baby!" he yelled as he made his way towards her. Thankfully he didn't make it past Sirius, who scooped the furious boy up.

"_TAKE IT BACK_!" he hollered at her, his tiny fists balled up, eyes filled with tears.

"What a _naughty _boy! I think you need to punish him cousin." She said gleefully.

"You made him lose his temper and you know it you-"

"That's quite enough!" Lily spoke firmly over them both. By now they had gained the attention of the entire Great Hall, including the staff table. "Let's just go up to the common room and have supper there. I'll go speak to the house elves about it and you go on ahead."

Sirius looked back at the other two Marauders. "Don't worry Padfoot, we'll stay here. You go on with Lily and we'll meet you later."

Sirius nodded and carried a red-faced and sobbing boy out with him.

Severus was whimpering as his Padfoot carried him out. He wasn't just upset about the mean lady calling him names, but because he had screamed and lost his temper just like his new friends had told him not to. He just knew he was in big trouble.

"Severus, I just want to tell you that you aren't in trouble this time. Bellatrix was doing that on purpose to make you upset and she was the one who was wrong."

"Really?" Severus could hardly believe his luck.

"Yes really. Sorry your first supper here didn't work out so well, but don't worry, Bellatrix will be going home tonight and we won't have to see her all vacation."

"Good, 'cause I don't like her at all." Sev said softly in Sirius's ear, as though someone may overhear.

That fact alone kept Sirius chuckling right until they reached the common room. _Who'd have thought that I would be laughing with Severus?! Still, he's a cute little booger, and if he doesn't like Bellatrix I guess he can't be all bad._

Dinner was a fare of grilled cheese for all three of them, Severus insisted on sitting in Lily's lap, and she agreed even though she blushed a little. He squirmed around on her lap, grinning cheerfully at being able to sit on with his Lily. His bum was still sore but he wasn't going to complain since she was being so nice to him. Even petting his hair!

"Hey there squirt, what are you doing flirting with Lily?" James said as he came in the portrait hole. Lily Sirius and Sev had finished their supper awhile ago and had just been waiting for the others so they could put the little Slytherin in bed. He had insisted on good nights for everyone, and he wanted to apologize for yelling even though Padfoot told him he didn't have to.

"I-I'm not flirting! She is! _She's_ playing with _my_ hair!" Severus said, turning red with embarrassment. He didn't want his friends to know he _like_ liked Lily Evans. Lily turned pink at his statement and then smirked, turning him around in her lap.

"That's not flirting Sevvy, this is!" she giggled and began showering his face and head with kisses as he went into what appeared to be an epileptic fit on her knees.

"Liiiiiiiiillllllyyyyyyy!" he squealed, making a show of squirming but not really trying to get away. _Lily is kissing me!!!_ His heart was singing.

She laughed and released him, whereupon he ran and hid in Mooney's legs, feigning humiliation at being so thoroughly kissed by a girl. "Now Severus, remember why we let you wait." She said with a laugh still in her voice.

"Oh yeah!" he stood on his tip-toes and reached for Mooney, who obligingly leaned down so the little boy could get his arms around his shoulders. Sev gave him a good hug.

"G'night Mooney; and I'm sorry I was bad and yelled at supper, even though Padfoot says it wasn't my fault." Then he scuttled around a pleasantly surprised looking Remus to reach for James as well, who by now had already squatted down for his hug and goodnight. He ruffled the still clean mop, "Yeah, goodnight to you to Sev. Sleep tight."

"Otay!" he grinned and skipped to Sirius. "Bedtime now Padfoot?"

"Yup, bedtime." Said Sirius, promising himself that it would be more like eight-o-clock than eight-forty next time.

Sirius picked out a green silk nightshirt and black fuzzy socks for the tiny Severus to wear to bed and carefully laid him on his tummy, tucking the covers tight around him.

"Okay Sevvy, all set?" he asked, he was actually happy to see the tot ready to sleep, the first day with him had been more tiring than the Marauder would like to admit.

"Yup Padfoot; all set. Oh Padfoot!" the child called as Sirius was about to head out and shut the dorm door.

"What's the matter Sev?"

"Um, could I have a nightlight…please?" he asked in a tiny voice. He hated having to show he was still afraid of the dark, but he was sure his Padfoot wouldn't laugh at him.

"Of course." Sirius smiled gently, he remembered being afraid of the dark as a little kid too. He got an unused jar out of his trunk and performed a flame charm, sticking the little flame in the jar and capping it with a vented lid. He then held it up for Severus to see, and placed it in a corner thoughtfully so it would light near the bathroom door in case the boy needed to find it for… business.

"That good?"

"Yes Padfoot, thank you and goodnight." Severus said softly, snuggling into his nice warm bed.

"Goodnight Sev." He said with a smile. He waited until the boys breathing became even and relaxed and then went down to join the others. _And so ends our first day. Merlin, what have we gotten into?_

To be continued…

A/N: Okay, here's chapter four and sorry it took so long! Anyway I hope you enjoy it and please remember to feed the author lots of yummy reviews!


	5. Chapter 5

**Marauder's Mistake**

**Chapter 5: Chocolate before Breakfast**

James blinked wearily as the morning light broke through his bed hangings. It had been five days since they got Severus the toddler, and they had managed to settle into a reasonable routine with the boy. They had to get up around six-thirty to brush hair and teeth and get the active little boy dressed, which took the combined efforts of all three Gryffindors since Severus seemed to think that this was the perfect hour for chases and tickle fights. Then they would make their way to breakfast, after which Severus would be occupied with drawing in the common room since it was too cold for outside play in the mornings. Then they had early lunch, a nap around twelve that typically lasted two hours and gave the boys a much needed break, followed up by plenty of playtime.

James grinned as he crawled out of bed; once again he was the first one of the Marauders to wake, which meant he'd be the one getting Severus ready. Which after all seemed fair since Sirius was usually the one to see to tucking the tot in each night and Remus had taken over bathtimes. He stopped grinning when he opened the curtains to find Severus's bed empty though. "Severus?"

He received no answer. Nor were there any giggles to signal that the boy had gotten up early to play hide and seek. _Ok Prongs, no need to panic just yet. There's nothing to say Sev is hurt. He's just gone to play in the Common Room… at six thirty in the morning… riiiiiigght._

"**SEVERUS SNAPE!" **he shouted at the top of his lungs, causing two other Marauders to leap out of their respective beds and land on their faces.

"Bloody Hell James! What was that for!!" Sirius growled angrily, dragging himself to his feet.

"I have to say I agree." Remus interjected, "There is absolutely no need for screaming inside, I mean we've been telling Severus not to and- James what's wrong?" Remus had just noticed the look of terror on James face as he hurried around the dorm room, obviously looking for something.

"It's Severus! He's not in his bed and I can't find him!" he cried, panicking.

That was all it took for the other two boys to take action, throwing on their school robes over their pajamas they tossed James his and ran from the clearly Slytherin-free dorm room.

"But I don't understand! He's never run off like this before!" James moaned as they came down and found an empty Common Room. Sirius was looking behind the overstuffed red armchairs in vain while Remus was standing by the fireplace grate, trying desperately to think like a four year old. The only trouble was; he couldn't imagine a single reason the boy may have for getting out of bed this early and hiding.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do" he said finally, causing the other two to stop running around. "We are not going to panic, we are going to go and get the map and use it to find Severus and when we do we can calmly ask him why he ran off. James, the map was in your trunk last."

James gave a curt nod and ran to go fetch it. When he returned they activated the map and began sweeping the castle and its grounds swiftly.

"There! The library!" Sirius exclaimed, and sure enough there was the tiny dot with the name Severus Snape on its marker. Like a flash all three boys dashed out of Gryffindor tower and made their way to the library, James frequently checked to make sure that Sev was staying in one place.

When they reached the library Remus indicated that they should be very quiet to prevent Severus from knowing they were there. The boy had already proved that he had been abused to 

some extent and that he may have run because he thought he'd done something for which they would be angry. Silently and quickly they crept through the empty aisles, heading towards the one in which Severus was located. They peeked cautiously around the corner and saw the little boy halfway down the aisle, hunched over but not shaking or showing any signs of distress.

"Severus?" James called hesitantly. The three teens heard a sudden gulping noise and Severus shot to his feet, but stood stock still.

"Sev are you okay?" James asked as they began approaching the boy, who in answer gave them a swift nod that made his hair fly but refused to turn around.

Finally James was able to lay his hand on Sev's shoulder and turn the boy around manually. "Could I have a verbal… answer?" he asked, his voice slowing as he saw that the mini Slytherin's face was covered with chocolate. Sev looked guiltily at his footie pajama clad feet.

"Severus Snape is that chocolate on your mouth?" Remus asked him, having a pretty good idea on where the boy had gotten it. _I knew I should have moved that bar from my trunk when he spotted it yesterday! Of course the important question is…_

"Severus how much of that chocolate did you eat?"

Severus scuffed his foot on the floor, his Mooney was gonna be mad at him for sure. He'd stolen that bar, and eaten all of it. But the insistent voice from far above his head came again. "Severus."

"Ateitall." He said the awful truth in one word.

"I beg your pardon, could you repeat that a bit slower please?" his voice was not unkind, but it was firm. Severus sighed and repeated "I ate it all Mooney" looking at his shoes the whole time.

Suddenly he was scooped up by two muscular arms and settled against a strong chest. He looked up sadly to see it was a stony faced James who had picked him up.

"I'm sorry Prongs!" he wailed, frightened of the awful angry look his Prongs had on his features.

The petrified voice from the pajama-clad boy in his arms brought James back to earth, he had planned on bringing his charge back to the dorm for a time-out, and to discuss a spanking with the other two boys but now he looked down into two large tear filled obsidian eyes.

"That's good that you're sorry Severus, but you are still going to have a time-out." He said, collecting himself and making his voice as soothing as possible.

Severus sniffled and looked down, then back at Remus who was following, hoping for a reprieve. "Mooney, I _am_ sorry! Please don't put me in time-out, I'll be a good boy!" he begged.

"Severus it's good that you're sorry but you're still in trouble young man. I told you not to touch that chocolate, and furthermore we've told you that there are no sweets before breakfast. Yet you stole that chocolate, and since you knew what you did was naughty you ran off to hide from us; didn't you?"

"Yes" came his mumbled reply.

"Well then, you know that naughty behavior gets you a time-out; and in this case you made us all very worried when we couldn't find you, so I'm not altogether certain a spanking is out of order."

Severus snapped his head up at Remus, "Not a spanking too!" he cried. "That isn't fair Mooney!"

"I think it's very fair, after all, you stole and broke a serious rule all in one and compounded that by running off and worrying us all. If you had just faced up to misbehaving you would only be dealing with a time-out."

Severus sniffled even more as he was brought into the Dorm Room. It just wasn't fair, he'd apologized and everything and he was still in trouble! He knew he had been very naughty but that didn't mean he wanted a spanking!

When James put him down he hid behind his hands, "I don't want a spanking Prongs!" he reiterated in a whine.

James rolled his eyes, seeing as Severus wasn't watching, and struggled to hold onto his temper. _He's a little boy, just four years old and he's scared and upset. He's not doing this just to be difficult, so be the adult and be as understanding and gentle as your own dad would be with you._

"Severus, this is not negotiable. Now I know you don't want it but if you did then it wouldn't be a punishment would it?"

"No; but Prongs I-" he started only to have James put his fingers over his lips softly.

"No buts, now let's get this done with so we can go on with the rest of our day. Remember how we were going to go skate on the lake this afternoon?"

"Yes…" he nodded, he had been very happy about that last night, but now it didn't seem to be as cheering a thought. What if he fell on his bottom and it hurt even more because he'd just been spanked? He let out a heavy sigh and stood between James's knees.

Sirius chose that moment to lean around James with a damp washcloth and wipe away the chocolate still on Severus's mouth. "There ya go Sevvy, now you won't leave chocolate everywhere you go." Apparently it was the straw to break the camel's back because at that point Sev cried and hugged James's belly as hard as he could.

_I can't take anymore of this, if I don't do it now I'll never get it done with!_ So he steeled himself to play the big bad (and no offense to Remus) wolf and picked Severus up, deciding to put him on his shoulder instead of over his knee so the little guy could hug his shoulder. He opened the seat of the footy pajamas Severus was wearing and bared the tiny, and currently pale, bottom. Holding him in place firmly he focused his thoughts on the stolen sweets, the fact that they were eaten before breakfast and that he'd run away, and he brought his palm down with a **thwap** on his bum.

"You do not steal **(smack) **or eatsweets **(smack)** before breakfast (**smack) **and without our permission (**smack smack) **and you never ever **(smack) **run away **(smack)** because you know you're in trouble for being naughty **(smack)**or at all for that matter **(smack)**."

Once he had landed the ten swats, which had been long ago decided as the maximum punishment, focusing the last two on the bottom of Severus's cheeks which made them extra pink, he pulled the boy down into a hug.

Severus cried as his bottom was spanked and made to feel much warmer than was comfortable for him, and when his Prongs finished he squeezed his neck tightly. He was so happy that Prongs was cooing at him and rubbing his tiny shoulders comfortingly, his father never did that for him. He felt a hand on the back of his head ruffle in a familiar sort of way and knew it was Mooney, sort of the same way he knew the gentle fingers on his arm belonged to Padfoot. He stopped crying outright and just sniffled, tucking his face into his Prongs neck and hoping he could keep being hugged just a little bit longer. As a boy, he would never admit that he liked group snuggling and so much focused attention, but that didn't mean he was above drawing it out for as long as he could when it happened.

James mumbled senseless little platitudes into the messy mop of inky hair as the other two Marauders sat beside them, he knew he was being overly gooey about the whole thing, and smirked 

at the thought of the teen Snape's face when he recalled this particular snuggle. Still, when he felt the mini Slytherin's face turn into his neck and the gentle sigh he gave he just had to give in and hold him a bit longer. After a few moments that he told himself were just to make sure Sev was cried out (even though he had not sniffled for at least ten minutes) he held the boy back from himself and took in the blotchy wet face with the nose that still wasn't too big for it and the big obsidian eyes with their thick, and currently tear clotted, lashes. Severus managed a small smile, barely a twist at the edge of his lips really, but it was enough to convince James he would be fine.

"Let's wash that face and go catch us some breakfast Sev, how does that sound?" he asked quietly.

"Sounds good Prongs, can I have bacon though? That chocolate made my tummy hurt." The little tot admitted sheepishly.

"Sure, lots of plain toast and then some bacon, that'll make it settle back down." He said kindly, standing up to take him in the bathroom. He set Sev on the sink and rinsed out a clean washcloth under warm water before applying it carefully to his ruddy and tear-stickened cheeks.

"Really? But how do you know that Prongs?" Severus was practically amazed at the way his friends always had answers to things.

"Let's just say that when I was your age I had my own share of upset tummies from too many sweets as well." He said, swiping away the last trace of tears with a wink.

"Woooow." His friends would never stop surprising him it seemed, although Severus found it a bit hard to picture Prongs Padfoot and Mooney in trouble. Really, that was just ridicules!

To be continued…


End file.
